The Centric Health practice on the Longwood Road in Trim, which has come in for heavy criticism of its staff members on the ratemymd.com website, has come under fire from a former patient who feels her data was used by staff there for purposes other than which it was allowed to be under GDPR, the data protection safeguard,
They told Meath Live, ‘ In 2021 I had a serious problem related to mental health and attended a doctor in Centric who was excellent, the problem was I could never get an appointment when I needed one, bear in mind I was in a very fragile mental state around that time.
‘ I am a member of a Facebook site centred on Trim and I noticed a few posts had gone up criticising the non medical staff in Centric which at the time was the only practice operating in Trim, so i posted a comment along the lines of this is what happens when you have a monopoly situation, it wasn’t critical of anyone on a personal level, basically it was just an opinion.
‘To my amazement soon afterwards, on July 14th 2021 to be exact, I got a call from a staff member in Centric essentially having a go at me over the comment, they also told me that they were contacting everybody who had posted about them on the page, I was left speechless when I heard that.
‘Now interestingly they told me the call was recorded so I was aware they would have a record of what was said.
‘It is my belief the only way that person had access to my contact details would have been through my medical records and as far as I know they can only be used to contact me regarding medical matters.
‘I took legal advice but decided rather than pursue that avenue I would simply leave the practice so I called and asked for my medical records and also for a recording of my conversation with the staff member which I felt I was entitled to.
‘Two weeks later I got a call from the same staff member telling me the calls were NOT recorded, it is obvious she couldn’t be correct both times, so I am now not sure if they have a recording of my conversation or not.
‘Like everyone else who reacted to your story earlier this week I found the non medical staff the issue the doctors were superb when you eventually got to see them.’
A spokesperson for the Data Protection Commission said, ‘Everyone has the right to protection of personal data concerning him or her. Such data must be processed fairly for specified purposes and on the basis of the consent of the person concerned, or some other legitimate basis laid down by law.’
Separately a source has claimed that all patients from the old Cullen practice were transferred to Centric when they took over that practice without being asked whether they wished to transfer or not.
Centric Health have been contacted for comment.
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